284 HUNTING TRIPS 



of the doe, which lay stretched out inside, 

 stark and stiff. The ball had gone in too 

 far aft and had come out on the opposite 

 side near her hip, making a mortal wound, 

 but one which allowed her to run over a 

 mile before dying. It was little more than 

 an accident that we in the end got her ; and 

 my so nearly missing at such short range 

 was due purely to carelessness and bad judg- 

 ment. I had killed too many deer to be at 

 all nervous over them, and was as cool with 

 a buck as with a rabbit; but as she was so 

 close I made the common mistake of being 

 too much in a hurry, and did not wait to see 

 that she was standing quartering to me and 

 that consequently I should aim at the point 

 of the shoulder. As a result the deer was 

 nearly lost. 



Neither of my shots had so far done me 

 much credit; but at any rate I had learned 

 where the error lay, and this is going a long 

 way toward correcting it. I kept wishing that 

 I could get another chance to see if I had not 

 profited by my lessons; and before we 



